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Christmas

From present ideas to party food, find all your Christmas inspiration here.

The Nigel Slater Christmas Chronicles Readalong 2024 Part 2

987 replies

RainbowZebraWarrior · 14/11/2024 07:53

Welcome all new and old friends.

The journey continues.

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Confusedmeanderings · 14/11/2024 12:44

Phew found you all!

Bimblesalong · 14/11/2024 15:17

Afternoon! Thanks for the new thread @RainbowZebraWarrior

Dh is obsessed by cabbage and will be delighted by today’s addition.

It’s a VN day in the household. The Advent book which arrived today is tempting me.

Today is weekly hairwash day (thank you, cold capping!), so we have had a Cheshire spa onsen at home, complete with facial and self massaged feet. There has been woo music and candles, and marvellous soap (@RainbowZebraWarrior 😍).

Ds kindly brought me a special tea for the “relax” period afterwards and was not perturbed by the face mask. He had selected a special tea. A few months before Dad died, one of his former PhD students had an inkling that things were not quite right (we have a large academic family, many of whom have been friends for decades). This lovely chap sought out a conference in the Uk pertinent to the field so that the not inconsiderable cost of transport was covered along with being able to deliver his paper and consult with international colleagues. He also arranged to visit and talk with dad, as dad was still researching and writing (until the day he passed). He brought gifts, including a very special Taiwanese high mountain tea and tea bowls, the tea being such it has health giving effects. Ds selected this, brewed in his handmade Chinese tea pot and presented in his current favourite Sakura cup. A very tender expression of ds’ love language (food!).

The Nigel Slater Christmas Chronicles Readalong 2024 Part 2
The Nigel Slater Christmas Chronicles Readalong 2024 Part 2
The Nigel Slater Christmas Chronicles Readalong 2024 Part 2
piscofrisco · 14/11/2024 15:48

Oh lord Bimbles-that's actually made me cry a bit. What a lovely story, I hope you enjoy your tea, you very much deserve it.

I've spent the afternoon stuck on the sofa covered in Dogs but having a read of Wintering by Katherine Hayes-which I feel people on here might like if they haven't encountered it already.

I'm working this evening manning the on call phone for the MH crisis team so it's the calm before the probable storm.

RainbowZebraWarrior · 14/11/2024 15:58

Oh @Bimblesalong how beautiful ❤️

Just a little heads up from me. I needed a wick trimmer and found people talking about Isle of Skye candles. They had this one for £8 but I used a £5 off referral code from the referral thread here on the Christmas boards. So it's only cost me £3 as they offer free UK delivery on everything with no minimum spend. I've added my referral code to the referral thread (you build up points for % off future purchases)

They also have a range of candles on offer with 40% off in their BF event.

https://skyecandles.co.uk/products/ca-wt

Wick Trimmer

Our wick trimmers are the best way to keep your candles in their best condition whilst keeping your hands free from soot.  By trimming the wick after each burn to about 1/4 of an inch, you can ensure the flame won't give off as much smoke and will prol...

https://skyecandles.co.uk/products/ca-wt

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Bimblesalong · 14/11/2024 16:27

I am really very lucky in so many ways - even if it has taken a little more than mild peril to prove it! I love that book @piscofrisco - read it around my diagnosis and it chimes with my positive attitude for getting through this difficult time without wasting these previous days by wishing them away.

Thanks for that @RainbowZebraWarrior I was thinking I needed a pair!

looking forward to an indulgent candle read later - a favourite day in CC

dazzlingdeborahrose · 14/11/2024 17:01

Enjoyed this chapter. Haven't dared to look up Nigel's candles (ooo err missus). Afraid to see the prices. I'll content myself by lighting one of my current candles this evening.
I have the Advent book too. I've been trying to find a recipe for some little cookies we had on the breakfast at Hjem (restaurant). Little thumbprint type things with a little bit of jam in them. Really, I should just message and ask them instead of buying multiple scandi-baking books. Shouldn't I?
@piscofrisco - what a cutie your dog is. Hope he's on the mend. Sam says get well soon (pic of sam attached)

The Nigel Slater Christmas Chronicles Readalong 2024 Part 2
StrungWithSilverBellsAndFlowers · 14/11/2024 19:34

Hello everyone, after a promising start I fell off the wagon about 10 days ago (combination of a friend coming to stay and a whole load of hassle with the sale of my dad's house) but I have just had 2.5 hours quietly catching up.

I managed 9 chapters of the book and 400+ posts (admittedly there was a bit of speed-reading - aka skimming - going on), and just as I was feeling nicely mellow and back in the zone we had a power cut that seems to have blown something in the cooker. I was making roasted sweet potatoes and they're only half done so now I must wait for OH to return from the pub and hope he can coax it back into life.

I have just inhaled half a pack of Lidl's sour cream and chive Christmas Tree Pretzels, NVN.

Just wondering (and apologies if I missed this in my haste to catch up) whether anyone baked the Orange & Poppy Seed Cake? I thought I might give it a try.

NowLightOneThousandChristmasLights · 14/11/2024 19:36

Oh @Bimblesalong that made me quite tearful. Love spreads throughout lives in such a wonderful way through little acts of kindness.

@StrungWithSilverBellsAndFlowers welcome back! I've made the Orange and Poppy seed cake a few times and it's very nice. Haven't made it this year because I don't really have a kitchen atm.

Willow12345 · 14/11/2024 20:01

Thanks for the new thread @RainbowZebraWarrior

@Bimblesalong your story was so poignant and lovely - what a sweetheart your DS is 💕

I made Nigel's Cauliflower and Leek soup, and it was as warm and comforting as I had imagined it would be. Went down very well with all of the family.

The Nigel Slater Christmas Chronicles Readalong 2024 Part 2
lucysmam · 14/11/2024 20:18

Just popping in to say hello - have had a busy week & haven't had chance to read yet, or properly catch up with the thread.

@Bimblesalong your cardi is stunning. I hope your treatment went ok 😊

@Justamiddleageddirtbagbaby (I hope I got that right & haven't tagged some random, unsuspecting, MN-er 🤣) I mentioned on the last thread that the recipes in Advent didn't turn out brilliantly for me. It is a lovely book though, I enjoy just browsing through it.

RainbowZebraWarrior · 14/11/2024 20:26

@Willow12345 that soup looks gorgeous!

@StrungWithSilverBellsAndFlowers don't worry about falling off the wagon. Life gets in the way.

Speaking of which, my evening has just ran away with me again. I'm currently trying to process that the school we have been to see today was amazing, but it's much further away from us than DD's current school. Unfortunately the LA are letting us down massively by closing our high school which was only built 14 years ago. So awful feeling things are beyond our control, but trying to be proactive and make the right decision for DD who loved what she saw today and very much wants and needs fresh start.

I've spent much of my week so far listening to Radio 2 and following Paddy McGuinness' progress on his chopper bike. Children in Need is such an amazing charity, and the generosity of the general public is so moving. It reminds me of how much love, goodness and kindness there is in a world that seems rather broken at times.

So much warmth and love on this thread, too.

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MovingCrib · 14/11/2024 21:00

Rainbow 💐

Thanks for the Nigel podcast on home (whoever signposted it) - so enjoying it.

KrazyboutKillian · 14/11/2024 21:02

@RainbowZebraWarrior
thanks for the new thread , reading along if not posting much
love your house in a bauble , very prettty

Bearsinmotion · 14/11/2024 21:13

Found you all! Nothing to report, just checking in and trying not to drink the apricot brandy happily steeping in the cupboard...

StrungWithSilverBellsAndFlowers · 14/11/2024 21:23

@NowLightOneThousandChristmasLights Thank you, I will give it a go.

@RainbowZebraWarrior Yes, you're right - life gets in the way. Though I think it's then that I need the quiet moments reading and connecting with others even more, so if I can keep carving out some time I will.

Bimblesalong · 14/11/2024 23:44

@RainbowZebraWarrior Glad the school was amazing but so hard that it’s far away. So many extra things to throw in the mix with more distance. That’s without all the extra baggage of change for a youngster with autism.

CandlesAndClementines · 15/11/2024 00:07

@NowLightOneThousandChristmasLights I'm burning with curiosity as to what your ordered from Sweden 😊@yan

@piscofrisco I'm yearning to get to our nearest sostrene shop it's not too far, half an hour but a hassle to park.

RainbowZebraWarrior · 15/11/2024 08:01

15 November

Frost fairs and braised brisket

I ache for snow. The last generous fall in this garden was January 2013, when the Yew hedges tilted drunkenly with it's weight. I ache for silence, for the sound of my own muffled footsteps as I walk up thr garden path. But most of all I ache for icicles. When I was seven or eight, icicles hung from the greenhouse like trickles of icing on a gingerbread house. They shone in the late afternoon sun. I snapped off the longest as a rapier for a mock fight with an imaginary friend, and galloped across the snow-covered lawn in a one-man jousting match. Before I went in for tea, they other icicles met their fate, as a unicorns horn, a fencers épée and lastly a shimmering javelin.

The Nigel Slater Christmas Chronicles Readalong 2024 Part 2
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Cactuscuddles · 15/11/2024 08:09

I long for snow too. That first 24 hours when it’s falling silently and then it’s pristine and shining white. The five days or so after that when it’s frozen grey sludge on the pavements that threaten a broken limb when you inevitably fall over not so much.

we have all been very quiet the last 24 hours. Hope everyone is ok and busy being VN. I got my white company Christmas candle out which is making the room smell amazing and am considering some vanilla based perfumes for Christmas. I love the smell of vanilla, so comforting and homey, but am slightly worried I will smell like a cookie.

piscofrisco · 15/11/2024 09:19

Morning everyone. I'm saving todays entry for this evening when I'm
Back from
Work. First day in the office for three weeks for me today and I'm actually excited to get in and see people. I'm lucky to be able to wfh but I love the buzz of the office (in small doses). And it's nice to be out of leggings and big jumpers and back into clothes with an actual waist.
@Bearsinmotion apricot Brandy day is Sunday for me. Wondering how it will turn out.

Bimblesalong · 15/11/2024 09:22

Yay @piscofrisco have a good day. Great to see your progress 😀

RainbowZebraWarrior · 15/11/2024 09:24

@Cactuscuddles I love snow too (but not the frozen slush as you say) It one snowed heavily all night when I was about 15 and I stayed up all night just sitting on my windowsill watching the big fat flakes falling silently.

I love vanilla too, but you do have to be careful to choose one that's not too overpowering.

A couple of people used my referral code for the Isle of Skye candles and I've earned myself a free candle!

In the meantime, I made some scrappy ones out of broken bits of beeswax for my chamberstick.

The Nigel Slater Christmas Chronicles Readalong 2024 Part 2
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RainbowZebraWarrior · 15/11/2024 09:40

Bearsinmotion · 14/11/2024 21:13

Found you all! Nothing to report, just checking in and trying not to drink the apricot brandy happily steeping in the cupboard...

My Apricot Brandy is on the bench next to the kettle and I'm enjoying watching those fat little apricots getting merrily pissed as newts. I'd say they have doubled in size since I made it two weeks ago.

My new snowflake latte glasses have now joined the arrangement..

The Nigel Slater Christmas Chronicles Readalong 2024 Part 2
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bigbadbarry · 15/11/2024 11:06

I love the snow too. I remember being told off by my ballet teacher when I was what, 12 or 13, because I could not stop looking outside at the snow falling. It's rubbish here in Chester, always cool and damp but rarely proper lovely cold or snow. The welsh hills, which I can see from my bedroom, take it all before it gets to us!
The week has not gone entirely as planned (but has been lucrative - I work freelance so have to make hay while the sun shines) but I am determined to make that sodding mincemeat and catch up with the reading this weekend. Eldest DD home from uni though so we will see. Perhaps she will help.

NowLightOneThousandChristmasLights · 15/11/2024 11:45

Haven't read back yet but @RainbowZebraWarrior I've just seen the wick trimmer...been meaning to get one for ages! Would you be able to link to the relevant referral thread - there are so many! Or am I thinking of the multiple bargains threads? 🤔 Don't really know my way around that corner of the Christmas topic too well as I just pop in every so often (don't buy many gifts and do NOT need to see too many tempting bargains! 😁).

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